I’m looking to invest in artificial intelligence and want to know which AI companies are showing real growth potential for the future. I’ve done some research, but there’s so much info out there that it’s a bit overwhelming. Can anyone share personal experiences or expert insights about AI stocks or companies that are worth considering? Any recent trends or red flags to watch out for would be really helpful.
AI investing feels like watching a velociraptor try to open a door—terrifying and thrilling, and you have no idea what’s going to happen next. Everyone yells “NVIDIA!” like it’s some magic code (yay, GPUs!), but at these prices? Feels like you’re buying a whole graphics card for the price of a single share. Microsoft and Google are duking it out with their chatbots; meanwhile, OpenAI just keeps dropping mind-bending announcements every five minutes, and you can’t even buy their stock without going through Microsoft.
There’s also the “pick and shovel” play: companies like AMD, TSMC, or even the shady folks making server racks. Chip fab, cloud infra—if AI eats the world, they sell the spoons. Or maybe check out smaller guys like Palantir, who act like they’re building Skynet in a data center but mostly sell analytics to governments who heard about “Big Data” on a podcast once.
Watch out for those “AI-powered” penny stocks—that’s just company-speak for “we edited one line on our about page, please pump our shares.” SaaS stuff like Salesforce and ServiceNow sprinkle AI like glitter on everything, too, though honestly half of that is just fancy auto-complete.
In short, the “future” is probably NVIDIA, Microsoft, AMD, Google and Amazon AWS slurping up all the profits, and everyone else scrambling for scraps unless somebody invents a surprise GPT-7 in their garage. Could you make a fortune? Sure. Or you just bought tulip bulbs, 2024 edition.
If we’re talking AI companies as smart investments, yeah, @sognonotturno nailed the “NVIDIA is king” meme but honestly, there’s more nuance than just yelling ticker names in a crowded theater. Everyone’s piling into the obvious picks—NVIDIA, Microsoft, Google—because they’re already minting money off AI. But when a stock gets that much attention, a lot of the future growth gets priced in already. Doesn’t mean there’s no room left, but you might not see rockets, just steady gains (unless the AI hype cycle explodes again).
If you’re up for playing with a little more risk, consider the up-and-comers behind the scenes—yes, the “picks and shovels” infrastructure stuff, but also enterprise software companies like Snowflake, Databricks (when they IPO), or even Elastic. They’re not building Skynet, but they build what all the LLMs and data analytics tools run on. There’s also UiPath and CrowdStrike—robotic process automation and AI-infused cybersecurity are quietly eating the world, though not as sexy as generative AI headlines.
I’ll push back a bit on the total write-off for SaaS companies going hog wild with “AI glitter.” Sometimes “autofill on steroids” actually makes those SaaS platforms stickier and jacks up the margins, so ServiceNow, Salesforce, ZoomInfo, etc., can squeeze out longer customer lifespans and maybe surprise everyone with increased profitability.
As for OpenAI—sure, retail can’t buy in directly, but whenever they stumble or the shine fades a little, keep your eyes peeled for MSFT dips. I’d also keep an eye on Meta (yeah, I know—data privacy clownshow) because the open source LLM race is getting spicy, and their AI infra/ads business is more serious than folks give them credit for.
My hot take: Don’t sleep on boring, old IBM. No, seriously—when Wall Street’s hype cycle moves on, the C-suite suit-and-tie types go right back to buying consulting and mainframe contracts from Big Blue, and their recent AI+Cloud focus is low-key working.
Just—please—for the love of your portfolio, do NOT chase every “AI-powered penny stock” just because they jammed ChatGPT into their product page. If you see a company rebranding for AI with zero R&D spend and no actual product demos, run.
The din’s only gonna get louder as “AI” gets slapped on everything from dog food to doorbells. Stick with true platform players, infrastructure, and maybe 1-2 bold picks in the emerging software layer. Oh, and ignore anyone promising the next OpenAI in their basement, at least until they ship something besides a pitch deck.